House Bill 2245e1
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HB 2245, First Engrossed
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to rulemaking authority for the
3 Department of Children and Family Services;
4 amending s. 409.919, F.S.; providing rulemaking
5 authority relating to Medicaid for the
6 department in addition to that provided for the
7 Agency for Health Care Administration; creating
8 s. 409.953, F.S.; providing rulemaking
9 authority relating to the Refugee Assistance
10 Program; amending ss. 414.085, 414.095, 414.13,
11 and 414.15, F.S.; providing rulemaking
12 authority relating to income eligibility
13 standards, temporary cash assistance, required
14 immunizations, and diversion payments under the
15 WAGES Program; providing an effective date.
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17 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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19 Section 1. Section 409.919, Florida Statutes, is
20 amended to read:
21 409.919 Rules.--The agency and the Department of
22 Children and Family Services shall adopt any rules necessary
23 to comply with or administer ss. 409.901-409.920 and all rules
24 necessary to comply with federal requirements. In addition,
25 the Department of Children and Family Services shall adopt and
26 accept transfer of any rules necessary to carry out its
27 responsibilities for receiving and processing Medicaid
28 applications and determining Medicaid eligibility, and for
29 assuring compliance with and administering ss. 409.901-409.906
30 as such sections relate to those responsibilities.
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HB 2245, First Engrossed
1 Section 2. Section 409.953, Florida Statutes, is
2 created to read:
3 409.953 Rulemaking authority.--The Department of
4 Children and Family Services shall adopt rules pursuant to
5 chapter 120 as necessary to establish and carry out
6 eligibility requirements for the Refugee Assistance Program.
7 Section 3. Section 414.085, Florida Statutes, is
8 amended to read:
9 414.085 Income eligibility standards.--For purposes of
10 program simplification and effective program management,
11 certain income definitions, as outlined in the food stamp
12 regulations at 7 C.F.R. s. 273.9, shall be applied to the
13 WAGES Program as determined by the department to be consistent
14 with federal law regarding temporary cash assistance and
15 Medicaid for needy families, except as to the following:
16 (1) Participation in the WAGES Program shall be
17 limited to those families whose gross family income is equal
18 to or less than 130 percent of the federal poverty level
19 established in s. 673(2) of the Community Services Block Grant
20 Act, 42 U.S.C. s. 9901(2).
21 (2) Income security payments, including payments
22 funded under part B of Title IV of the Social Security Act, as
23 amended; supplemental security income under Title XVI of the
24 Social Security Act, as amended; or other income security
25 payments as defined by federal law shall be excluded as income
26 unless required to be included by federal law.
27 (3) The first $50 of child support paid to a custodial
28 parent receiving temporary cash assistance may not be
29 disregarded in calculating the amount of temporary cash
30 assistance for the family, unless such exclusion is required
31 by federal law.
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HB 2245, First Engrossed
1 (4) An incentive payment to a participant authorized
2 by a local WAGES coalition shall not be considered income.
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4 The department is authorized to adopt rules governing the
5 administration of this section and may establish criteria
6 related to income inclusions, income exclusions, income
7 deductions, budgeting criteria, participant money management,
8 eligibility verification criteria, processing timeframes, and
9 other eligibility criteria that the department deems necessary
10 to implement this section.
11 Section 4. Subsection (20) is added to section
12 414.095, Florida Statutes, and paragraph (c) is added to
13 subsection (13) of said section, to read:
14 414.095 Determining eligibility for the WAGES
15 Program.--
16 (13) CALCULATION OF LEVELS OF TEMPORARY CASH
17 ASSISTANCE.--
18 (a) Temporary cash assistance shall be calculated
19 based on average monthly gross family income, earned and
20 unearned, less any applicable disregards. The resulting
21 monthly net income amount shall be subtracted from the
22 applicable payment standard to determine the monthly amount of
23 temporary cash assistance.
24 (b) A deduction may not be allowed for child care
25 payments.
26 (c) The department is authorized to adopt rules
27 governing the administration of this subsection and may
28 establish criteria related to type of budgeting, conversion
29 factors, verification of income, treatment of self-employment
30 income, treatment of child support income, and treatment of
31 other sources of income.
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HB 2245, First Engrossed
1 (20) RULES.--The department is authorized to adopt
2 rules governing the administration of this section and may
3 establish criteria regarding verification requirements and
4 limitations on eligibility.
5 Section 5. Section 414.13, Florida Statutes, is
6 amended to read:
7 414.13 Immunizations.--Each applicant who has a
8 preschool child must begin and complete appropriate childhood
9 immunizations for the child as a condition of eligibility. At
10 the time of application and redetermination of eligibility,
11 the department shall advise applicants and participants of the
12 availability of childhood immunizations through the county
13 health department. Each participant who has a preschool child
14 must verify compliance with the section. If a participant
15 fails to provide such verification, the child for whom such
16 verification is not provided shall be removed from
17 consideration for purposes of calculating the assistance
18 available to the family. If the child subject to this
19 requirement is the only child in the family, participation in
20 the program shall be terminated until verification of
21 compliance is provided. The department shall waive this
22 requirement if the failure to immunize the child is because of
23 religious reasons or other good cause, as defined in rules
24 adopted by the department.
25 Section 6. Subsection (7) is added to section 414.15,
26 Florida Statutes, to read:
27 414.15 Diversion.--
28 (1) A segment of applicants do not need ongoing
29 temporary cash assistance, but, due to an unexpected
30 circumstance or emergency situation, require some immediate
31 assistance in meeting a financial obligation while they are
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HB 2245, First Engrossed
1 securing employment or child support. These immediate
2 obligations may include a shelter or utility payment, a car
3 repair to continue employment, or other assistance which will
4 alleviate the applicant's emergency financial need and allow
5 the person to focus on obtaining or continuing employment.
6 (2) Up-front diversion shall involve four steps:
7 (a) Linking applicants with job opportunities as the
8 first option to meet the assistance group's need.
9 (b) Where possible, offering one-time help as an
10 alternative to welfare.
11 (c) Screening applicants to respond to emergency
12 needs.
13 (d) Performing up-front fraud prevention
14 investigations, if appropriate.
15 (3) Before finding an applicant family eligible for
16 up-front diversion funds, the department must determine that
17 all requirements of eligibility would likely be met.
18 (4) The department shall screen each applicant family
19 on a case-by-case basis for barriers to obtaining or retaining
20 employment. The screening shall identify barriers that, if
21 corrected, may prevent the family from receiving temporary
22 cash assistance on a regular basis. Assistance to overcome a
23 barrier to employment is not limited to cash, but may include
24 vouchers or other in-kind benefits.
25 (5) The diversion payment shall be limited to an
26 amount not to exceed 2 months' temporary cash assistance,
27 based on family size.
28 (6) The family receiving up-front diversion must sign
29 an agreement restricting the family from applying for
30 temporary cash assistance for 3 months, unless an emergency is
31 demonstrated to the department. If a demonstrated emergency
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HB 2245, First Engrossed
1 forces the family to reapply for temporary cash assistance
2 within 3 months after receiving a diversion payment, the
3 diversion payment shall be prorated over the 2-month period
4 and subtracted from any regular payment of temporary cash
5 assistance for which the applicant may be eligible.
6 (7) The department is authorized to adopt rules
7 governing the administration of this section and may establish
8 guidelines related to screening criteria, referrals to
9 community resources, restrictions on receipt of up-front
10 diversion and transitional services, definitions of emergency
11 services, verification requirements, and processing
12 timeframes.
13 Section 7. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
14 law.
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